Today we talk the other features up for an Oscar in documentary, animated and international, while calling the editing and screenplay races as best we can.
INTERNATIONAL FEATURE
All Quiet on the Western Front
Argentina, 1985
Close
Eo
The Quiet Girl
This has to go to All Quiet, as the major international film and BAFTA winner of course. Not a close call for this one.
Winner: All Quiet on the Western Front
Alternate: Argentina, 1985 (the Golden Globe winner)
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
All That Breathes
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
Fire of Love
A House Made of Splinters
Navalny
On paper, the frontrunner for this category looked like Laura Poitras’s well reviewed All the Beauty and the Bloodshed for a while, but then Navalny came up from behind recently with wins at PGA and BAFTA. This was surprising to some but not to me. I though Navalny was likely to win all along, even if it had no precursor wins. It’s the kind of film for which winning an Oscar is a major political statement against Russia, and at a time of war in Ukraine, how can the voters turn that chance down?
Winner: Navalny
Alternate: All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
Dark Horse: Fire of Love
ANIMATED FEATURE
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
Marcel the Shell With Shoes On
Puss In Boots: The Last Wish
The Sea Beast
Turning Red
Pinocchio takes this in a walk, because it’s won all the precursor awards. The respect for Guillermo del Toro is too engrained, but I haven’t felt a genuine love for the film like with some years in animated feature. Still, it won’t be taken down by anything else.
Winner: GDT’s Pinocchio
Alternate: Puss in Boots
Dark Horse: Marcel the Shell With Shoes On
EDITING
The Banshees of Inisherin
Elvis
Everything Everywhere All at Once
TÁR
Top Gun: Maverick
This is kind of a tough one, as it could go to the BP favorite, but I’m thinking Top Gun can pull this off. This used to be correlated with Best Picture but that stat’s long dead, as it’s only happened twice in the last 15 years. And for whatever reason, lately the editing and sound awards have been paired together a lot. Both of them won the guild award, so that’s no clue except that it’s probably between them, and EEAO won the BAFTA as the sole prize that voting body gave the movie.
Winner: Top Gun: Maverick
Alternate: Everything Everywhere All at Once
Dark Horse: Elvis
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
The Banshees of Inisherin
Everything Everywhere All at Once
The Fabelmans
TÁR
Triangle of Sadness
There are those who think Banshees can win this, but I happen to think EEAO will take it in its Best Picture sweep. The Best Picture winner usually wins screenplay as well, and though it can win without it, I don’t think that will happen this year.
Winner: Everything Everywhere All At Once
Alternate: The Banshees of Inisherin
Dark Horse: Tar
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
All Quiet on the Western Front
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Living
Top Gun: Maverick
Women Talking
I was all set to say Women Talking would take this, but after All Quiet’s BAFTA win, I wasn’t so sure. Then Sarah Polley won the Scripter and the WGA award over Top Gun, a combo which has normally secured the Adapted Screenplay Oscar in the past, so maybe BAFTA was a fluke on this one.
Winner: Women Talking
Alternate: All Quiet on the Western Front
Dark Horse: Top Gun: Maverick
